A Great Celebration
Psalm 23
Because the Lord my Shepherd is
I shall not want, for I am His!
He makes me lie in pastures full;
I rest in Him by waters still.
My soul He quickens and will bless;
He leads in paths of righteousness.
Though I may walk in death’s dark vale,
I shall not fear – He will not fail.
The Lord is ever by my side;
His rod and staff with me abide.
A table rich for me He spreads;
With oil my Lord anoints my head.
Goodness and mercy, full and free,
Shall ever after follow me,
And in the house of God, my Lord,
Shall I abide forevermore![1]
Revelation 7:9-17 NRSV
After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying:
“Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, singing:
“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “Sir, you are the one that knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason, they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Let us think attentively about the eternal feast of the martyrs, which is in heaven, and by following in their footsteps insofar as we can, let us also take care to become ourselves participants in this heavenly feast, for as the apostle bears witness, if we have been companions of his passion, we will at the same time be companions of his consolation. Nor should we mourn their death as much as we should rejoice about their attaining the palm of righteousness . . .
Hence, says John, they were standing before the throne “in the sight of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and palms were in their hands.” For they now stand before God’s throne, crowned, who once lay, worn down by pain, before the thrones of earthly judges. They stand in the sight of the Lamb, and for no cause can they be separated from contemplating his glory there, since here they could not be separated from his love through punishments. They shine in white robes and have palms in their hands, who possess the rewards for their works; while they get back their bodies, glorified through resurrections, which for the Lord’s sake they suffered to be scorched by flames, torn to pieces by beasts, worn out by scourges, broken by falls from high places, scraped by hoofs and completely destroyed by every kind of punishment.[2]
Almighty God,
You have given many of your servants boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Amen.[3]
These Are They
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Corinthians 4.15).
[1] Setting by T. M. Moore, The Ailbe Psalter (2006, Waxed Tablet Publications), p. 27.
[2] The Venerable Bede, Homilies on the Gospels 1.10. Ancient Christian Devotional, Year C, pp. 117-118.
[3] Prayer of Commemoration of a Martyr, Anglican Book of Common Prayer, 2019, p. 637.
